Tutorial on how to lose money

Today I'll share how I lost money by making some of the most basic investing mistakes.

This is the short story of my 2024 journey—from a humble grinder to a cocky, lazy procrastinator, and then to a humble grinder once more.

Some context

I started my investing journey in 2021, making terrible mistakes, listening to random advices, and essentially buying financial assets at their peaks.

This was my first real step into the financial markets, and as you can probably guess, the price nose-dived 64% just five days after I went all-in on what my brother called ‘digital gold’.

If you're not familiar with candlestick charts, each vertical line in this picture represents 4 hours.

As a complete newbie, I panicked and sold at a massive loss just days after entering the market.

The irony? On my first day, I was actually up $500 in just 8 hours and I felt like I was on top of the world.

This is textbook gambling psychology:

• Gambler plays for the first time and wins.
• Gambler thinks he can beat the house.
• Gambler gets rekt.

Looking back, my journey couldn't have started in a worse way.

This is the same chart, but on a 2-week timeframe.

You might be thinking, "Yeah, but if you had just held on for a few more months, you would have made money".

And you'd be right. Good job.

But keep in mind-I had just entered the market for the very first time, with zero understanding of what I was doing.

I was simply told, out of the blue one day, that I had to buy a certain thing. That was it.
I didn’t even have a say in the amount I invested. I just left it up to my brother.
That should give you an idea of how clueless I was.

Also, you can't really time the top, especially with price action as crazy as this.

If anything, there was a higher chance I would have held that bag all the way down.

If I held onto it from that day until today? I'd be down 87%.

Fuck $EGLD.

From Panic to Capitulation

By 2022, my portfolio was in complete shambles due to a broader financial downturn caused by various macroeconomic headwinds.

That year was the worst for the economy since the Covid crash, with the Federal Reserve aggressively raising interest rates and other central banks tightening monetary policy.

My bags dipped as low as three figures as I constantly FOMO'd and bought local tops on the way down.

All good investors understand opportunity cost, but chasing every opportunity is the worst thing you can do.

We also had a few black swan events, but by that point, I was already so deep in the red that they barely made a difference.

Ironically, 2022 was my best year in terms of personal growth—because I went through so much mentally and learned a lot about macroeconomics.

Market recovery and bottom was in

By January 2023, after an entire year of red, I thought, "It can't possibly go lower."

And lo and behold—I was right.

My real winner? Buying $SOL at $17 during the FTX collapse.

Fast forward 350 days, and the price had skyrocketed to $125—marking the first time I had ever taken profits.

At that moment, I realized the opportunities the market had to offer. It was enough to convince me to try going full-time in crypto.

Now, you might be thinking, "With all that knowledge and experience, you must have made a shit ton of money, right?"

I bet on the wrong horses.

To put it bluntly, I got cucked by the market—everything pumped hard except the assets I held, with SOL being my only winner.

The Wealth and Lethargy Connection

Despite holding underperforming assets, my portfolio still grew to the point where it was hitting all-time highs day after day.

Doing my research from 2022 to 2023, when no one else was, and learning economics and technical analysis turned out to be a great investment.

However, as my portfolio and my ego inflated, a new problem emerged:

The more my portfolio grew, the less motivated I became.

I found myself not grinding as much as before and not putting enough effort into whatever I was doing.

My success led to complacency, which, in turn, diminished my motivation and made me overconfident.

When you've been winning so much, you start taking it for granted, thinking nothing can stop you.

And that’s when you start making irrational decisions—decisions you wouldn’t have made if your ego hadn’t gotten so inflated.

Rekt

Fast forward to today, I lost over five figures in just a month.

I don't usually use leverage, but with all my winnings, I figured I'd give it a try.

I thought it would be just like before, right? Asset management, but with a boost!

I learned the hard way.

I started playing with futures (low leverage, mind you!), and I actually had great success. That is, until Donald Trump decided to drop a bomb on us.

As he took office, he imposed tariffs on all other countries, which sparked massive FUD in the financial markets.

You wouldn't expect an asset with a market capitalization of $396 billion to drop 35% in just 3 days, would you?

I got liquidated in 3 days.

The setup seemed solid in my mind, but there are always unpredictable factors at play.

And what made this worse? I almost feel indifferent.

Having hit rock bottom in 2022, nothing really fazes me anymore-and it's honestly scary when I think about it.

Conclusion

Stay humble, or the market will take back your gains.